02081335457

Similar to what’s been mentioned before, but this time the caller said his name was Sam Auftin. He was offering me a cheque for £3200, but insisted I buy a UK Cash Voucher worth £160 first. The catch was I had to get the voucher before he’d hand over the cheque. I asked why I couldn’t just pay the alleged tax bill online, but he couldn’t give a proper explanation. I told him I’d have to check the details and confirm the call was genuine before taking any steps.

On 30/04/15 at about 3:55pm, I got a call from the number 0208 133 5457. The bloke on the phone said his name was Jim Taylor, but his voice sounded Indian, which didn’t match the name at all. He said he was ringing from the Ministry of Justice Claims Department, claiming a company I used to have a loan with had retrieved all my charges. According to him, because of new government laws about unfair charges, banks have to give money back to customers. He reckoned the Ministry of Justice were managing the claims and told me I had a cheque for £4,600 waiting for me. However, I’d first need to pay 5% tax, which amounted to £230, before their solicitor could bring the cheque to my house. I was told to head to the nearest PayPoint to buy a voucher in the name of UKASH Ltd before the solicitor arrived with the cheque. This whole story sounded dodgy, so I asked him to send me an email to prove everything, but I never got anything after that first call. Since then, that number has called me 18 times, but I haven't answered. I did some digging myself and found out UKASH is a known scam from various websites. Normally, I don’t bother writing reviews, but I wanted to warn others so they don’t fall for this scam. Caller was using the name Jim Taylor.

Just like Janice and John mentioned, I got a call from someone named Sam claiming to be from the Ministry of Justice. He said I was owed PPI from a £7,000 loan back in 2009 - which I never took out! Sam then told me he’d send Jennifer Williams over with a cheque for £3,200, but first, I had to buy a UCASH voucher for £160 so it could be ‘stamped’ before I could cash the cheque. I told him I couldn’t afford that and wanted to cash the cheque first, but he insisted that wasn’t possible. I said I’d call back and that I’d be reporting them to the watchdog. The number he called from was 02081335457.

Got a call from someone claiming to be from the "Ministry of Justice, a government department in London" about a loan I supposedly owed. I told them I’m signed up with the telephone preference service (if you’re not, you really should be - it’s free and helps loads!). As soon as I said that, the bloke hung up straight away. Total scam, no doubt. Definitely report it to Ofcom and the ICO. Makes you worry for people who might think it’s legit just cause they say it’s “the government”. Phone number was 020 8133 5457.

In a similar case to Janice (dated 29-04-2015), I got a call from someone who said her name was Jennifer, though her accent sounded South Asian - maybe Indian. She claimed she was ringing from something called the Ministry Of Justice, specifically the Claim Regulation Management Department. She told me I was due about £2,400 from an old mortgage claim relating to PPI. Surprisingly, she knew loads of details, like the mortgage provider, and even that we had tried to claim the PPI back before but failed because it wasn’t linked directly to the mortgage company. Jennifer then said a government court ruling had allowed folks to get their PPI back, and that a solicitor nearby could deliver the cheque in person. But first, she insisted I needed to pop to a nearby PayPoint shop and buy UCash vouchers worth £250 to cover some sort of “tax” fee - claimed to be 10% due to the government. Apparently, attaching these vouchers to the cheque was needed before I could deposit it into my account! She wanted me to ring her back once I’d got the vouchers so the solicitor could come to my place with the cheque. When I said I’d do a bit of research online first, she seemed fine at first but got very sullen and actually hung up the moment I mentioned I knew about scams like this from watching Watchdog, saying schemes that make you pay upfront are dodgy. I reckon this sounds like a right scam, maybe even an organised con team. The number she called from was 0208 133 5457, and she gave the name Jennifer from the Ministry of Justice - Claim Regulation Management Department. Wouldn’t trust it for a second.

I got a call saying I’m owed £2500 from a £6000 loan I took out back in 2003. They claimed a solicitor nearby would bring me the cheque but first I had to get a Ukash voucher for £250, which they said was a 10% fee paid to the Ministry of Justice for recovering the cash. This number has been ringing me nonstop this week, pushing me to buy the voucher. What’s weird is the guy on the phone says his name’s Jim Taylor, but he’s got a really thick Asian accent. Of course, no one’s shown up with any cheque since I refused to pay for the voucher. - caller: 02081335457, "Jim Taylor" from Ministry of Justice

Kept ringing a few times but no one ever said a word. Each time I tried to answer, they ended the call on me.